As men are called to arms to defend the fragile state, women are left to protect their families, homes and communities against the insurgencies. As is common to most conflict zones, women are subsequently saddled with the responsibility for the young, elderly, wounded and sick. Over the past 4 weeks as the conflict has worsened, over 300 000 refugees, including women and children, have fled their homes out of fear of the ISIS insurgency and a looming threat of airstrikes. In the midst of the chaos, women are increasingly vulnerable to sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), in a country where many have struggled, over the years, to hold perpetrators accountable.

Maha, an aid worker in Bagdhad commented on the corrosive effects that sectarian conflicts have had on women in Iraq, saying, “Women are sacrificing their lives to hold families together. They’ve regressed more than 50 years in the past decade. The tragedy is that women over the age of 50, they were the pioneers of the women and feminist movement in Iraq. They fought for women’s rights and now it’s their daughters, nieces, sisters and friends who are being pushed back into their homes, silenced and hidden away.”

Most appalling of all is that these human rights violations come in the wake of the largest gathering on the topic of sexual violence in conflict, where world leaders, experts, activists and survivors convened in the UK, pledging to make every effort to “shatter the culture of impunity, help survivors and deter perpetrators” of SGBV. On the day that ISIS troops conquered Mosul, threatening women and imposing Sharia law on the region, world leaders were gathered in boardrooms, discussing the urgent need for governments to respond to sexual violence.

But it is not world leaders who are risking their lives to support women who are targets of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict. It is civil society organizations, women’s activists and human rights defenders who shoulder the risk of being caught in the crossfire while mobilizing emergency response strategies to protect women from sexual and gender-based violence.

Among them is the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), an organization seeking to advance the status of women and promote a secular society in Iraq. Since the onset of the conflict, OWFI has been planning and implementing crisis response strategies for women and children while demanding that the international community adopt a human rights-based approach to conflict resolution in the region. Together with partner organizations like MADRE and the Global Fund for Women, OWFI is:

Opening a women’s shelter in the ISIS-controlled territory, providing refuge, emergency care and counseling to women who have survived rape and are fleeing rape and sex trafficking.

Distributing humanitarian aid, including clothes and food packages to displaced women and families in ISIS-controlled territories

Offering support and protection to progressive human rights activists through a network of allies

While world leaders are sequestered in plenary room, surrounded by layers of security as they echo the catchline that it’s “time to act to end sexual violence in conflict”, women, activists and civil society organizations continue to stand on the front lines in Iraq, and around the world, having long since realized the urgency of the situation.

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This post was written by Tori Roberts, WPSN-C Intern and student in the School of Social Work at Carleton University.